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The Indiana Appellate Court was created by the Indiana General Assembly by statute in 1891. It was originally created to be a temporary appellate court to handle overflow cases from the Indiana Supreme Court. The Appellate Court was not intended to be a permanent institution; the original statute specified that it would only exist for six years. But in 1897, the General Assembly voted to keep the court for another four years (due to the Supreme Court's increasing caseload), and then voted to make it permanent in 1901. It was at this point that the court began its function as an intermediate appellate court.

In 1970, the Constitution of Indiana was amended to create the current Indiana Court of Appeals. The court began hearing cases on January 1, 1972.

The Court of Appeals hears appeals from the Indiana trial courts, including some interlocutory appeals. It also handles appeals from some state government agencies, such as the Worker's Compensation Board, Department of Workforce Development, and Utility Regulatory Commission. Though the Court of Appeals judges represent different districts within Indiana, each panel of judges has statewide jurisdiction.[1]